2016 NATIONAL ELECTION CALENDAR: Thanks to the volunteers and staff of Wikipedia for this collection. First up for Europe is the Portuguese presidential election on January 24, while in February the big-ticket vote is the Iranian parliamentary election on February 26. Slovakia votes March 5, Ireland April 3, and Austria elects a new president April 28. http://bit.ly/1O4OObK

VIDEO DU JOUR: The Dutch EU Presidency has launched a 360-degree video that you can swivel by moving your phone (or your mouse if watching on desktop), to show you Amsterdam and how Eurocrats will get down to decisions at the Presidency headquarters (great carpet, great ceilings) during the next six months (they’ll be getting there by boat or bike). I’m told the best viewing experience is through the YouTube app or using Chrome or Firefox browsers. http://bit.ly/1NYIXH8

HITTING THE ROAD: It’s a light schedule for most EU commissioners today and tomorrow; on Wednesday President Jean-Claude Juncker leads theCollege of Commissioners to the Netherlands to join opening events of the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

**A message from Google: A new public for Old Masters was the founders’ aim for London’s Dulwich Picture Gallery. With Google, a growth engine for cultural institutions, they share their collection worldwide. http://bit.ly/1o90Si9**

THE SEVEN PLAGUES OF EUROPE: Wilmer Heck and Stéphane Alonso take us on a tour of seven connected crises the EU and the Dutch government must manage in 2016. Six are externally sourced, from refugees to terror to Russia, and one — the Dutch referendum on whether to uphold a new “association agreement” with Ukraine — started as an internal Dutch problem but may become a European one if the Dutch reject the agreement. Article: http://bit.ly/1PGaiQQ. How it played in the NRC Handelsblad: http://politi.co/1UoZdmE

WHAT CHINA IS READING ABOUT THE EU’S CHALLENGES AND DUTCH PRESIDENCY: Taking over the EU presidency at a challenging time, the Netherlands will focus on creating growth and jobs: “the essentials.” Jesse Wieten for Xinhua: http://xhne.ws/zqOTm

HOW ONE PHRASE DIVIDED THE EU AND ISRAEL: Vince Chadwick and Maïa de la Baume explore the dispute between the EU and Israel over the recent move by Brussels to instruct EU member countries on how to label goods produced in areas outside Israel’s 1967 borders. “More than one month after the guidelines were issued, the fallout continues. The decision has dogged European officials, caused friction within the European Union and strained the bloc’s ties with Israel.” http://politi.co/1Z0Z0wH

CATALONIA — NEW ELECTIONS SET FOR MARCH: The European political jolt of the weekend comes from Spain, where the independence-driven Junts pel Sí (Together for Yes) party followed up a poor showing in the December 20 national Spanish election with failure to form a regional government (based on their regional election in September) forcing Catalonia to new elections.

“Members of the small far-left Catalan party CUP (Popular Unity Candidacy — which supports withdrawal from Spain, the EU and NATO) decided Sunday not to support a new term for the incumbent regional president Artur Mas, bringing down his plans for a pro-independence government .. The decision brought to an end months of negotiations …” Both Junts pel Sí and the CUP risks losing votes amid voter frustration and their inability to form a workable governing arrangement. POLITICO | Reuters

POLAND INCURS WRATH OF GERMAN EU COMMISSIONER: Günther Oettinger, well-known in Brussels for speaking beyond approved scripts, has given the clearest indication yet that Poland is lining up powerful enemies with its new reform program that includes dismissing the management of its public broadcaster for seemingly political reasons.

Oettinger has accused Poland of infringing “common European values” in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Sunday, saying “Many reasons exist for us to activate the ‘Rule of Law mechanism’ and for us to place Warsaw under monitoring.” If the law remains in place, Warsaw could eventually lose its voting rights at the European Council, according to France 24. The first step is a Commission debate on January 13, and that would need to be followed by an official negative opinion of the Commission before further consequences, such as suspension of voting rights, could unfold. http://politi.co/1NZ3UC1

AND POLAND’S FOREIGN MINISTER FIGHTS BACK: In response to a critical letter over the holiday break from Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans, Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski asks “where does he get the right?” (That would be the EU treaties and EU law.) The minister also felt compelled to say over the weekend that “Nobody intends to abolish (political) parties” as part of the new government’s reforms to protect Polish “traditional values.” http://bit.ly/1MOyEl0

COMPETITION — VESTAGER’S FIRST YEAR: “For all the headline-grabbing antitrust charges the European Commission filed last year — Google, Gazprom, MasterCard, Qualcomm and Disney, to name a handful — Europe’s competition czar Margrethe Vestager is still playing catch-up,” reports Nicholas Hirst. http://politi.co/1JoeHXA

GERMANY — REFUGEE SEE-SAW CONTINUES: One minute they are buddies, the next there’s a cold front. One minute the rhetoric is toned down, the next it is heated up. The latest action from Angela Merkel’s allies in Bavaria is for Bavaria’s premier Horst Seehofer to call for a cap of 200,000 migrants a year, around a quarter of the 2015 intake. http://reut.rs/1RYygs9

TROUBLE IN SAUDI ARABIA = MORE PROBLEMS IN SYRIA: Saudi Arabia has cut diplomatic ties with Iran and ordered its diplomats out of the country, after Iran condemned the execution of Shiite cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

Ben Hubbard reports for the New York Times that “analysts feared it would increase sectarian divisions and investment in proxy wars. ‘This is a very disturbing escalation,’ said Michael Stephens, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute, a research center based in London. ‘It has enormous consequences for the people of the region, and the tensions between the two sides are going to mean that instability across the region will continue.’” http://nyti.ms/1UpoRYr

GREECE — A LONG CAPITAL FLIGHT: Between 2009 and November 2015, deposits have reduced by half in Greek banks to €120.9 billion, according to the Bank of Greece.

UBER TRIES A NEW TACTIC IN EUROPE — RETREAT: Mark Scott reports on a more nuanced Uber testing new tactics in Germany, going from no-holds-barred to some-holds-barred. “Uber’s withdrawal from Frankfurt is just one of a multitude of retreats by the company … In November, the ride-hailing service also pulled out of Hamburg and Düsseldorf after less than two years of operating in each of those German cities. In Amsterdam, Uber recently stopped offering UberPop. And in other European cities, Uber faces the prospect of being beaten back — or at least contained.” http://nyti.ms/1JnFfrZ

TRADE — WHAT’S NEXT ON THE GLOBAL TRADE SCENE AFTER COLLAPSE OF DOHA ROUND: The New York Times editorial board says that “With the Doha talks dead, world leaders need to start thinking differently about the global trading system.” http://nyti.ms/1JRXoJm. A re-cap on the final moments of the slow death of Doha, from the FT: http://on.ft.com/1MOtwxj

MEDIA — MOGULS TO WATCH IN A TUMULTUOUS YEAR AHEAD: Alex Spence on the (nearly all male) players promising further shake-ups of the media kaleidoscope. And yes, that includes Silvio Berlusconi. http://politi.co/1TyFroA

INDIA — THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY: Tunku Varadarajan on what went right and wrong in the world’s biggest democracy in 2015: http://bit.ly/1MOb3Rq

US 2016 — TRUMP LATEST, ‘HILLARY CLINTON CREATED ISIS:’ That claim is bound to come as a surprise to the Democratic frontrunner, especially after it was Trump not Clinton appearing in a terrorist recruiting video over the weekend. David M. Shribman for Boston Globe tries to dive from surprise to understanding of the resilient Trump candidacy:

“Conversations with a range of scholars, and some rummaging through historical sources, suggest that the most riveting figure in American politics today can perhaps be parsed as one part populist (recalling … William Jennings Bryan, three-time presidential candidate and secretary of state); one part brilliant exploiter of public fears (Joseph McCarthy, senator and red-baiter); one part mesmerizing but inflammatory preacher (Father Charles Coughlin, supporter of Franklin Roosevelt and then bitter opponent of the New Deal), one part showboat (Jesse Ventura, gaudy professional wrestler, and governor of Minnesota), and one part crusading antielitist (Huey Long, governor of Louisiana, senator, and possible presidential candidate).” http://bit.ly/1TxHnxB

“South keeps Trump in race”… Greg Bluestein reports in the Atlanta Journal Constitution lead story on Sunday: “If Donald Trump wins the Republican nomination, … he will likely have to do it by storming across the South. [His] support has softened in Iowa, and a skirmish in New Hampshire with [the Union Leader] could scramble the race. But … [p]olls show him maintaining commanding leads in South Carolina, where Republicans will cast ballots on Feb. 20, as well as Georgia and other states that vote… on March 1.” http://on-ajc.com/1P9s8qR

US 2016 — BILL CLINTON HITS THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL TODAY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

WHAT THE DAVOS CROWD IS READING: The world’s A-list is getting its fur-trimmed snow-shoes ready for another World Economic Forum in Switzerland. Here’s what they’re reading:

Most-read last year from WEF: “Three ways the technological revolution is unlike any other” http://bit.ly/1JRXS24Most-read last week from WEF: “Six factors shaping the global economy in 2016” http://bit.ly/1OF5tbz
Looking forward …“Looking for work in 2016? Here are the top jobs in demand” http://bit.ly/1NZ5Iei“Saudi Arabia’s economic time bomb. The need for pragmatism and reforms” http://brook.gs/1Su5Llv
Forecasting 2016. “Financial Times pundits didn’t predict that 2015 would see their paper snapped up by Nikkei. Can you outperform their estimates for the year ahead?” http://on.ft.com/1PGd7By

READER FEEDBACK: Prof. Dr. Han Entzinger of the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency in Vienna writes with some further info following my items in Friday’s Playbook from the book “Why the Dutch are different,” by Ben Coates. Entzinger points out that the provinces of North and South Holland would be better described as toward the west of the Netherlands rather than towards the south. He also says that rather than “schoon” being the only word for beautiful, “mooi” and “the Dutch word for beauty is “schoonheid,” still reminiscent of the original meaning of the word “schoon.”

**A message from Google: In leafy South London, Dulwich Picture Gallery has been home to a majestic collection of over 600 masterpieces for more than two centuries. Its founders wanted as many people as possible to enjoy great works of art, so it made sense to bring Google into the frame. From helping create an own­brand app which complements images with video, audio and text, to getting new visitors from further afield with Ad Grants, the non­profit version of AdWords, Google and Dulwich Picture Gallery make a beautiful diptych. They’re just one part of the 190,000 artworks available through the Google Cultural Institute. “It’s a really good opportunity to be on a platform seen by millions of people all over the world, wherever they are,” says Head of Communications Ellie Manwell. “The Google Cultural Institute has levelled the playing field for us.” See the bigger picture here**